Back to Basics
by TallieCat
Summary: He always had felt more comfortable in green...


Tommy Oliver was the oldest Power Ranger that there had ever been—at least on Earth. He had held and lost access to the Power Grid in more ways than he once thought were possible. He had fought created monsters, witches, creatures from other dimensions, artificial life forms, human beings, zombies, dinosaurs, aliens and once—if you were to believe what it had bragged—an actual demon, straight from hell.

Nothing had ever felt as real to him—as _right _to him as his original green powers. Not even the white powers that Zordon had created specifically for him.

That's not to say he didn't _love _being a Ranger—no matter what color he wore. It just always felt like he was borrowing someone else's shoes—they might fit, but they weren't _his._

As he got older—as the age of the new rangers stayed between fifteen and eighteen—he started thinking that maybe he was playing Peter Pan. Maybe he was wrong to keep taking the responsibility that seemed to belong to children. Not that any of the young men and women he'd served with were _really _children-no one could hold the responsibility they did and still be considered a child. He couldn't really help such thoughts from creeping into his mind, though.

Which is why, when the opportunity arose, it didn't take much thought. He'd taken a leave of absence, tucked his newest morpher away in a secret corner of the new headquarters and –literally- disappeared from the face of the Earth for a few months.

He was on the way home, now—sooner than he'd thought would be possible. His teachers told him he learned faster than anyone they'd ever trained. They had no way of knowing (and he didn't tell them) that it was because he'd been chosen and trained long before they found him.

He hadn't told anyone why he left or where he was going. Only Kim, Trini, Jason, Billy, Zack, Rocky, Adam and Aisha- the original veterans of a decades-long struggle—even knew he was leaving the planet. None of them were particularly pleased at his lack of detail (to mildly summarize the level of vocal protest he'd endured before his departure). They did respect his need—even after all these years—to withdraw periodically, to try to find himself and figure out where he was going next. They understood that this was an opportunity he _needed _to take-and none of them (especially Billy) were unfamiliar with space travel.

Tommy knew that they all considered themselves on permanent standby, and that he could trust them to keep an eye on the kids (who weren't really kids) for him. They all liked to know what was going on with the new Rangers, even if (most of them) didn't particularly want to meet them. The old oath of secrecy still held weight with all of them, even if they weren't bound to it anymore. The reigns hadn't been passed—not this time. There wasn't any continuity between the last Rangers and these new ones. It made the old Rangers feel that they needed to keep their distance, to let the new Rangers find their way on their own.

That would have to change in the future, Tommy decided. Now he knew that the Rangers weren't the _only_ hope against the darkness—that morphers weren't the only way to access the Grid. They weren't the only heroes on the planet anymore. They might not need to worry about escalating battles anymore. They might be able to amass an actual army and _win._

He had a feeling that more than a few of his old teammates would want in, even without the opportunity he'd just been given.

Earth sprang up before him, a blinding sphere slowly spinning against the blackness of space.

"In brightest day," Tommy murmured to himself, "in blackest night."

The others were going to get a laugh out of this, he knew. They already teased him mercilessly about his need to constantly rotate colors and powers.

"No evil shall withstand my sight."

He could only imagine what they would say about him 'getting back to basics.' Secretly, though, he thought they'd be glad. Because being a Ranger might be a teenager's game—but this _wasn't. _This was something they weren't too old to do—this was something they could use to make a difference. They could be a team again, they could fight the forces of evil in the way they all longed to still be doing. There were other heroes out there—heroes with and without powers. Heroes with less than any of them ever had. They could _help!_

The green halo around him flared brilliantly as it merged into the outer atmosphere of the earth. The place he was sworn to protect from childhood. His home.

"Let all who worship evil's might, beware my power," he shouted as he closed in on his new neighborhood, fell towards the very visible battle below with the speed of a comet, "_**Green Lantern's Light!**__"_

And who could blame him if his construct was the size and shape of a dragon?

They laughed about it later—but he could see the look on Jason and Adam's faces as his green dragon ripped the latest monster into explosive shreds.

It felt _good _to be green again.

**_Author's Note: _**_This is a complete flight of fancy, and I do hope you've enjoyed it nonetheless! Please forgive any spelling (or continuity) errors-it's been a __**long **__time since I've written and posted something all in the same night. (Usually I sit on it and revise for months-but this one was fun and silly, so I'm just going to throw it out there!) Thank you for reading and especial thanks to those of you who take the time to review! You're truly the only reason I keep doing things like this! _:)


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